Washington Wizards Mailbag Monday: Why the Wizards Could Get To the NBA Finals

As I mentioned earlier, the regular season is winding down (most teams have about 20 games to go), but that doesn’t mean the remaining games are unimportant. Really, the remaining few weeks will be the most important of the season.

Washington is a half game behind Boston for second place in the conference and the two will meet up again this month. The Spurs have overtaken the Warriors for the first spot in the West, too. There’s still a lot to watch as the standings take shape.

But to answer your question, Frankie, here’s the strengths of schedules for the top five teams in the East – ranked weakest to most difficult, via NBA.com.

• Boston
• Toronto
• Atlanta
• Washington
• Cleveland

The Celtics have the weakest schedule of the top five teams in the East and it’s not even close. They only have a few remaining against teams that are above .500, one of which is against the Washington Wizards.

Washington will have to hope that the struggling teams embrace the “spoiler” role and play to their potential against Boston.

A few years ago, the Wizards were in a similar position. They were no longer in the playoff hunt, but wanted to make an impact by ruining other teams’ chances of improving their place in the standings.

Everybody’s focusing on the Wizards and Celtics, but look out for the Raptors, too. They’re just a few games behind the Wizards. Their schedule is easier than Washington’s.

Nothing has been solidified, and again, it could be determined by the strengths of each teams’ respective schedules.